Aptly designed for the promise of the new administration, the Philippine Peso now takes on a chic new look that has been likened to the bank notes of the European Union.

Most apparent in the "new generation" bills are the addition of Philippine tourist destinations and endemic wildlife. Conspicuous as well is the inclusion of the late Corazon Aquino in the P500 bill while the personalities in other denominations have been edited to look younger.

Apart from aesthetics however, the new bank notes are also equipped with plenty additional security features such as the differently sized digits of the serial numbers, use of watermarks, security threads and embossed prints. The bills are also said to have antibacterial properties that will make the money more resilient to germ accumulation.

However, a number of flaws have been discovered in the design. First, the Philippine territory is not fully shown in the maps, leaving out some provinces such as the Batanes Group of Islands. Moreover, taxonomists also added that the scientific names of the animals were improperly written. These mistakes, critics say, are too important to neglect as these notes represent the nation and its people.

Should there be no change in plans however, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will begin circulation of the said notes by the first week of January. Twenty and fifty peso bills will be released first according to reports while higher denominations will soon follow. Meanwhile, the legal tender of the old Philippine peso is still effective up to 2014.